“Hey! We used to live together in the same house.”
“That is a really weird thing to say to someone in a conference, but the thing is…it’s true.”
I saw her walking through the lobby of the downtown Sheraton, another girl to her right. My eyes widened slightly; I couldn’t believe it. The last time I’d seen Danielle was late 2002…or mid 2003…well, during my second undergrad year. She was completing her Political Science degree at Laurier and had the ill-luck of living opposite Kay. Despite our shared animosity towards him we kept our interactions to a minimum, engaging in occasional small-talk or brief political conversations.
If someone didn’t vote for me, they’ve no right to come and bitch to me afterwards about a decision I’ve made. I’m going to look out for the people that voted for me first.
I was more idealistic then. Hearing the above comment, struck by the casualness of the utterance, I was horrified. Internally I branded her, thinking “Typical…sounds just like any other politician.” I’ve no idea if she still subscribes to that view or whether time’s moderated her attitude. I didn’t ask. I’ve changed however; I no longer hold her comments against her.
In hindsight I shouldn’t have been surprised by her presence. She’d always aspired to the political scene and given the “big tent” nature of the Ontario Liberal Party, it’s unsurprising she’d have found her ideological home there. But you just don’t expect to run across people like that…